cochrane is a city in Alberta, Canada within the Calgary Region. It is located north of Calgary within the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor at the intersection of Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) and Highway 567.
The City of cochrane is part of the Calgary census metropolitan area and a member community of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). The city is surrounded by Rocky View County.
cochrane was first established as a railway village in 1889 during the construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway, named for cochrane, Scotland. Today, cochrane is a scenic bedroom community and industrial centre.
Nose Creek, which runs through cochrane, is the focal point of a number of city parks and green spaces including Nose Creek Park.
Recent annexation of land by cochrane to the south, coupled with recent expansion of Calgary's city limits in July 2007, have placed the two cities' boundaries within only a few kilometres of each other.
Nose Creek Park hosts the annual cochrane Festival of Lights in the Christmas season. Other annual festivals include the Canada Day Parade and the cochrane Pro Rodeo. cochrane's primary cultural venues include the Nose Creek Valley Museum and the Bert Church Live Theatre.
cochrane is home to several sporting franchises. Major teams include the Knights of cochrane, a senior men's lacrosse team that plays in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League. The cochrane Thunder, a Jr. B level hockey team that competes in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League. Team cochrane is a Jr. C level hockey team that competes in the Calgary Jr. C Hockey League.
cochrane is situated on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2), which links Calgary and Edmonton. Highway 567 provides access to Cochrane to the west and Irricana to the east.
cochrane is served by the cochrane Airport. The closest major airport is Calgary International Airport.
cochrane launched the InterCity Express (ICE) in the fall of 2010, connecting cochrane and Calgary transit hubs by a two-way express bus service.[37] Local bus service is provided by cochrane Transit.
Rocky View Schools Division provides public education in cochrane, and operates three high schools in the city:
Private schools in the city include cochrane Koinonia Christian School.
Due to its proximity to Calgary, cochrane receives radio and television broadcasts from the city. At present it has no local television broadcasters but has a radio station, Air 106.1 FM. The city has two local newspapers, the cochrane City View and the cochrane Echo. A community newsletter, Here's the Scoop, is also published weekly and delivered door to door as part of a larger flyer package throughout the city. A quarterly magazine, cochraneLIFE, is also available, and a community internet portal, cochraneOnLine. There is also a website for the city's economic development agency at cochraneNow. cochrane is also in the local delivery area of the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun.
cochrane offers a full slate of resident services, with any services not available in the city easily obtainable in nearby Calgary.
The city is served by a number of strip-mall developments, including Tower Lane Mall (a former enclosed shopping centre converted to a strip mall in the late 2000s) and Yankee Valley Crossing. On the city's south end, the Sierra Springs area is seeing the ongoing development of big-box retail, including a Walmart Supercentre. The city's north end includes Real Canadian Superstore and Canadian Tire locations and other major grocery chains such as Sobeys, Canada Safeway and Calgary Co-op are also located in the city.
cochrane is located immediately north of the hamlet of Balzac, which is the location of the major regional shopping mall CrossIron Mills, which opened in 2009, and its neighboring retail/business park development. In addition, north Calgary's numerous malls and retail areas are quickly accessible via Hwy. 2 and the recent extension of cochrane's Metis Trail into the Balzac/CrossIron Mills area.